Disinfo: Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law voted for reunification with Russia

Summary

Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014. 96.77% of Crimean voters and 95.6% of Sevastopol residents voted in favour of joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea to be its own, but temporarily occupied territory. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with Russia. The Crimea issue is "finally closed."

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recognised on 17 April 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion." Vladimir Putin admitted (proudly) that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before even the Maidan protests culminated.

The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. In June 2020, the European Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June 2021.

See related disinformation claims alleging that Crimea has never been Ukraine; that Crimea rejoined Russia following a referendum; that Crimea "sailed" to Russia forever and the West agrees with it.

Go to search

publication/media

ru.armeniasputnik.am (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 239
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/04/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, Ukraine
  • Keywords: Crimea, illegal annexation, Referendum, Manipulated elections/referendum, International Law
see more

Disinfo: West created Ukraine to wage war on Russian civilisation

The West created Ukraine in order to wage war on Russian civilisation.

Apr 09, 2021
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative questioning the legitimacy of Ukrainian statehood; casting Ukraine as a failing state, fatally dependent on Western sponsorship and unable to make its own strategic choices.

The history of Ukraine dates back to the Kyivan Rus era in the 9th-13th centuries. Early in the 20th century, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed simultaneously with other nations such as Georgia, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. When the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in late 1917, Russia attempted to re-establish control over the newly independent states. Soviet Russia managed to take control of Ukraine and establish a Bolshevik regime.

Disinfo: Joe Biden has senile dementia and is a puppet of the Obamas and the Clintons

The Biden Administration is led by somebody who has been diagnosed with senile dementia, where Joe Biden has no real weight, his head doesn’t work anymore. He is a puppet of the Obamas and the Clintons.

Apr 09, 2021
Disproof

The affirmations are false. The claim that president Joe Biden has senile dementia has been promoted by his domestic political adversaries in the US and amplified by pro-Kremlin disinformation as part of its campaign against him in the US 2020 election, but it has been repeatedly debunked by independent fact-checkers. On 15 April, 2021, Dr. Kevin O’Connor of The George Washington University released a three-page medical summary of Biden's health at the request of his patient, in which he described Biden as a “healthy, vigorous, 77-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”

The claim that Biden has no real weight in its own administration and is a puppet of the Obamas and the Clintons is a conspiracy theory not based in any evidence.

Disinfo: Ukrainian drone strike kills child in Donbas

A Ukrainian drone strike has killed a five-year-old boy in the settlement of Aleksandrovskiy in the Donbas.

Apr 09, 2021
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Donbas conflict.

The claim is unverified. The village of Oleksandrivske (Aleksandrovskoye in Russian media) is located 15 kilometers away from the front line. The Russian Investigative Committee announced a probe into the death of a child there reported by pro-Kremlin media. The OSCE's special monitoring mission to Ukraine did not report about any drone strike in this area.